Disney-Pixar seems to crank out the best of the best animated movies nearly every year. In fact, from Toy Story to Wall-E, critics and audiences alike have praised the studios for their beautiful, insightful, comedic, imaginative, and nearly flawless works. Their newest outing, Up, just arrived, but does it have enough helium to rise up to the ranks of their previous works?
It rises beyond most, if not at least floating amongst them.
Up is the story of an old man named Carl Frederickson (Ed Asner) who wants nothing more than to fly to Pardise Falls in South America and live out the rest of his life. As time passes, his surroundings slowly become commercialized, and his house is the only suburban domestication left in a construction site smack-dab in the middle of business buildings. Threatening to impound his home for the land, Carl has no choice but to leave and join the community at the Shady Oaks retirement home. The day of his retrieval, however, he ties an enormous bundle of balloons to his chimney, fills them all up with helium, and flies away to finally achieve his goal. Accompanying him is a little boy scout named Russell (Jordan Nagai) who was on his porch at the time of his lift-off. Thus, an adventure ensues, where Russell and Carl develop a bond and befriend a talking K-9 companion named Dug (Bob Peterson) and a strange, rare bird whom Russell affectionately names Kevin.
Up follows the near-same story structure that most fantasy yarns, especially Disney ones, follow. There is a villain, it has some relatively mature overtones, and it has a special message to give out. The lesson of "following your dreams" is omnipresent throughout the movie, but not in an overbearing way. In fact, Up is quite possibly one of the most heartwarming films you could ever see in your entire life. It touches on so many emotional levels that are so difficult to emanate from a cartoon, yet Pixar figures it out year after year. Guaranteed, you'll at least tear up a little bit at certain parts, be immediately thrust into the middle of every suspenseful action sequence, and be filled with warmth and joy at any conflict resolution. This is where Up and its predecessors all shine; they truly evoke passion from anyone including the youngest of toddlers to the oldest of adults.
However, while Up is certainly a fantastic visual experience as well as an enthralling adventure, it suffers from one thing: redundancy. Maybe not so much within the film itself, but after a while, you realize that Up is not much different than almost any other cliche-ridden feature. The story itself is bold and original, that being about a flying house that travels to another continent...but when you mix in the all-too-obvious friendships that begin, the shallowly touched-on love story, and a villain as 2-dimensional as any other, Up begins to feel like you've been there and done that all too many times. For a younger audience, Up is sure to be perfect in their eyes, making them laugh and excited throughout the entire film. For an older audience, especially one who follows the success of Pixar so closely over the years, Up ultimately feels like its a filler squished between the masterpiece of Wall-E and the long-awaited sequel Toy Story 3.
At the same time, this is what we've come to expect from animated children's movies, especially born of Disney caliber. Up is certainly original, even in its storytelling (which explains the old man's grumpiness before the real story sets it rather than having a half-way epiphany about his life), but in the end, feels kind of the same. This, by no means, renders Up as any less of a beautifully written, directed, and animated feature film for any audience to enjoy. Just be aware that you may leave feeling a little less blown away than the first time you saw Toy Story, Finding Nemo, or Wall-E, but also be aware that you're still going to be blown up, up, and away.
8.5/10
-Kyle Shelton
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